14:2 有人信百物都可吃,但那软弱的,只吃蔬菜。
14:3 吃的人不可轻看不吃的人,
不吃的人不可论断吃的人,因为神已经收纳他了。
14:4 你是谁,竟论断别人的仆人呢?他或站住,或跌倒,自有他的主人在。
而且他也必要站住,因为主能使他站住。
14:5 有人看这日比那日强;有人看日日都是一样。
只是各人心里要意见坚定。
14:6 守日的人,是为主守的。
吃的人,是为主吃的,因他感谢神;
不吃的人,是为主不吃的,也感谢神。
14:7 我们没有一个人为自己活,也没有一个人为自己死。14:10 你这个人,为什么论断弟兄呢?
14:8 我们若活着,是为主而活;若死了,是为主而死。
所以我们或活或死,总是主的人。14:9 因此基督死了,又活了,
为要作死人并活人的主。
“主说:‘我凭着我的永生起誓,万膝必向我跪拜,14:12 这样看来,我们各人必要将自己的事,在神面前说明。
万口必向我承认。’”(以赛亚书45:23)
14:13 所以我们不可再彼此论断,
14:15 你若因食物叫弟兄忧愁,就不是按着爱人的道理行。
基督已经替他死,你不可因你的食物叫他败坏。
14:16 不可叫你的善被人毁谤,
14:17 因为神的国,不在乎吃喝,14:19 所以,我们务要追求和睦的事
只在乎公义、和平、并圣灵中的喜乐。14:18 在这几样上服事基督的,
就为神所喜悦,又为人所称许。
凡物固然洁净,但有人因食物叫人跌倒,就是他的罪了。
14:21 无论是吃肉,是喝酒,
是什么别的事,叫弟兄跌倒,一概不作才好。
14:22 你有信心,就当在神面前守着。
人在自己以为可行的事上能不自责,就有福了。
14:23 若有疑心而吃的,就必有罪。
因为他吃,不是出于信心;
凡不出于信心的都是罪。
But remember, that we are talking about disputable matters. Paul takes a very strong stand against those who put their faith in what should be the applications of their faith rather than putting their faith in Christ. For example, while in vs 5 he says:
Romans 14 deals not with people who are putting their faith in what should be merely applications of faith, but rather with people who are deriving applications of faith from the Bible as the Holy Spirit directs their conscience.
vs 2 Why is eating or not eating meat a disputable matter? There were a couple of reasons for this.
In 使徒行传15, James (a leader at the church of Jerusalem) declared that the Gentiles need only "to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood." But even this seems to go too far for Paul, who considers eating food polluted by idols more of a disputable matter, and no doubt also meat from strangled animals; unless what James meant was the same as Paul in this chapter: that one should keep these private so as to not affect fellowship with Jewish believers. But then if he were just speaking of disputable matters, why would he include abstaining from sexual immorality, which is certainly not a disputable matter?
vs 5-6 Some Christians are overly dogmatic concerning treating Sunday as a sort of holy day. They judge others who may not go to church on Sunday, or partake of some other special religious activities that day. But Paul writes that such is a disputable matter and Christians should be flexible on these kind of things.
vs 7-13a But whatever we do, we should have a view towards the judgment which we will face. For we are not here to do our own thing, but we are here as servants of Christ. So in whatever you are doing, ask yourself, "Am I accomplishing the work that Christ has given me to do? And am I doing it efficiently and in a manner that glorifies God?"
vs 13b-23 As Paul had said in the previous chapter, "love does no harm to its neighbor". But if you are doing things that don't violate your own conscience, then why should they harm another? But just as it may be harmful for children to deal with adult subjects and situations, so it may be harmful for those weak in faith to imitate those who are more mature in faith in matters that would violate their conscience. And once again I must stress that this is only with respect to disputable matters. Though spiritual maturity leads to freedom, it doesn't lead to lawlessness.
Sometimes institutional churches lose sight of the objective: righteousness, peace with God and joy in the Holy Spirit leading to peace between believers and mutual edification. Programs and ceremonies can often take priority over people. And denominational dogma may have a tendency to replace the Bible.
vs 22 "keep between yourself and God." In saying this, Paul discourages meddling and encourages a certain amount of privacy in a believer's devotion to God. Spiritual leaders should not be micro-managers.
vs 23 "everything that does not come from faith is sin." Biblical faith involves not just the mind, but the conscience. Just as faith in Christ should lead to repentance due to conviction of sin, so also walking by faith involves following our consience as the Holy Spirit directs us to derive applications from the Bible.